Winston Churchill

A vial of blood taken from Britain's victorious wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill during surgery in 1962 is to go up for auction in Dorchester, England next month (Mar15). It was kept by a nurse with Churchill's permission and is expected to fetch up to $960 (£600).

Dame Helen Mirren's play about Queen Elizabeth II is to be changed before it lands on Broadway amid fears American audiences might not recognise the British prime ministers featured in the story. Mirren reprises her role as the British monarch in The Audience and the story focuses on her interactions with 12 political leaders, including Winston Churchill, Tony Blair and current incumbent David Cameron.
However, writer Peter Morgan has been tweaking the script prior to the play's Broadway debut to make sure U.S. audiences don't get confused.
He tells the New York Times, "We are not throwing out two prime ministers and putting two others in, but we are making constant refreshments. Just tightening the nuts one more time."
Mirren also insists that the political nature of the play should not put off potential theatre-goers, adding, "Even if you have no understanding of the (British political) system or the chronology of British prime ministers, the play is very funny, and it gives you a growing realisation of what this woman has been through and experienced. This builds over two hours as you get an understanding of the variety and length of this woman's reign."

A birthday poem late country legend Johnny Cash wrote to his wife June has topped a British poll of romantic correspondence. To mark the singer/songwriter's 65th birthday in 1994, the Folsom Prison Blues hitmaker put pen to paper and poured out his feelings for his wife.
He wrote, "You still fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You're the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence.
"We got old and got used to each other. We think alike. We read each others (sic) minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes we take each other for granted. But once in a while, like today, I meditate on it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met."
His love note beat out letters from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, poet John Keats, Jimi Hendrix and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
The poll was commissioned by bosses at British life insurance company Beagle Street to mark Valentine's Day on Saturday (14Feb15).

Tourists visiting a historic palace in the U.K. were given a shock this week (beg08Feb15) when a fleet of supercars arrived on site for filming of the new James Bond movie. Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England remains closed for winter until Saturday (14Feb15), but visitors walking the year-round trails in the surrounding parkland were surprised to have the view changed as the 007 crew descended on the venue.
Huge cranes have been erected outside the building, and lorries have been pictured delivering a fleet of luxury supercars, including Audis, Bentleys and Jaguars.
Pictures posted online show signs around the set emblazoned with the 007 logo, and reports suggest the stately home, the birthplace of U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, will double as Rome, Italy in a sequence for new film Spectre, which stars Daniel Craig and is due for release later this year (15).

A collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia worth around $16 million (£10 million) is to be auctioned for charity.
A British collector has spent his life amassing rare items, including the late actress' dresses and underwear, and he now plans to sell his hoard this summer (14) to raise money for good causes and mark what would have been Monroe's 90th birthday on 1 June (15).
Seller David Gainsborough Roberts tells BBC.co.uk, "I have been collecting for many years, I'm 70 years of age now, I don't have a wife and children so I thought I must sell things... I have got a lot of big things out there which I hope people will love and buy."
Avid collector Roberts will also be selling off other memorabilia relating to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

The Birds star Rod Taylor has died, aged 84. The Hollywood actor passed away at his home on Wednesday (07Jan15), surrounded by family and friends.
The Australia-born star was best known for his iconic role in Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 classic The Birds, opposite Tippi Hedren, who paid tribute to him in a statement.
It reads: "There are so many incredible feelings I have for him. Rod was a great pal to me and a real strength, we were very, very good friends. He was one of the most fun people I have ever met, thoughtful and classy, there was everything good in that man."
Taylor appeared in more than 50 films throughout his six-decade long career, including films such as The Time Machine, The Train Robbers, The Catered Affair, Sunday in New York, 101 Dalmatians, and his last acting credit, Quentin Tarantino's 2009 war film Inglourious Basterds, in which Taylor played Winston Churchill.
He also starred in a number of TV series, including Murder, She Wrote and Walker, Texas Ranger, and appeared in various stage productions in his native Australia.
Taylor is survived by his wife of 35 years, Carol, and their daughter Felicia.

A painting by Britain's heroic wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill has sold for almost $2.8 million (£1.8 million) at auction. The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell, an image of a pond at the politician's home in England, which he painted in 1932, was sold in London on Wednesday (17Dec14).

Singer Demi Lovato took to the U.S. Capitol on Thursday (04Sep14) in the hope of urging members of Congress to pass legislation on mental health reform. The Skyscraper hitmaker, 22, visited Washington, D.C. to address an audience at the National Alliance on Mental Illness' convention.
Lovato, who has been open about her own struggle with bipolar disease, teamed up with former U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy to urge members of Congress to pass a comprehensive mental health bill.
During her speech, she said, "Those of us here today know that mental illness has no prejudice. It affects people of every race, age, gender, religion and economic status. It doesn’t discriminate between Republicans or Democrats, either.
"We've seen increased attention to our country's broken mental health system over the past few years, but we've seen very little action. Today our message is very clear: it's time for Congress to act for mental health by supporting the passage of a comprehensive mental health bill this year."
Lovato also took to Instagram.com to share photos of herself at the Capitol building, including a selfie with a bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
She added the caption, "Mean muggin (sic) with Winston Churchill... he agrees with me.. A MESSAGE TO CONGRESS: PASS COMPREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH REFORM LEGISLATION THIS YEAR!!!!"

Dame Helen Mirren is to return to the Broadway stage after more than a decade to reprise her role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience. The actress won an Olivier Award for her portrayal of the British monarch in the play in London's West End last year (13) and now she has joined Stephen Daldry's production at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, which is slated to begin on 8 March (15).
The show centres on the Queen's weekly meetings with British prime ministers, including Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron.
The play marked Mirren's second turn as Elizabeth II - she won an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, among other accolades, for her portrayal of the royal in The Queen.
The actress last appeared on the Broadway stage in 2001's Dance of Death with Ian McKellen.

Synopsis

A dramatization of one of the witty and wise informal talks Winston Churchill might have given on an American lecture tour, following soon after his famed "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, in March 1946.